The walls of the cafeteria trembled in anticipation as a lone melody began, a single guitar playing a beautifully curved pattern. As the lights came onto the stage, Julie continued to her part, smiling out at the audience that burst into cheers as GirlDeMo came into focus.
"Are you sure we can do this?" Julie had asked before the operation began, perusing the lead sheet for their intro song, One Thousand Enemies, anxiously.
From beside her, jess had tuned her guitar efficiently, with a calm smile of comfort. "That's the last melody Hayley wrote, before she left. Since you wrote the words for it, it's part yours now."
"But, everyone loved Hayley…. What if they don't accept me?"
"Either they will, or they won't," Jess had replied, as she and the others got ready to depart to the stage. "It's up to you. Just show them the same passion, and love that you showed us… and I think the fans will accept you. But don't worry, GirlDeMo's been around a while, and we're more than our singer. Whatever happens, tonight, we're going to rock."
On stage, Julie took a deep breath. This is my dream, she though for the hundredth time that night. I'm living my dream, and that's enough for me, regardless of what the audience thinks. Then, drifting into the rhythms all around her, the words flew out.
"Your grumpy moods, are my shady trees. I'll sit with you, watch churning seas."
From their position above, Fred and Bridget eyed each other. The students were well laden with currency. Everything was ready.
Outside on the roof, Elliot and Luke waited, the sites of their rifles perusing the entrances to the cafeteria area.
By the front, Richie the fifth, TK, and Emmanuel guarded the pathway, enough machinery between them to arm a third world country.
At the entrance from the fields, Mike, Harry, and Hannah stood sentinel, looking out over the empty soccer and baseball fields with scanning glances.
"Who are we guarding against, anyway?" Mike asked, fiddling with the safety of his pistol. He still didn't quite like the feel of the thing, the press of the cold metal against his skin.
"We will stand against anyone who gets in our way," Hannah replied from above him. She crouched, perched on the pinnacle of the fence post beside him. Her mouth curved into a frown as she scanned the field around her, her night eyes gleaming out from atop her scarf.
Mike gazed up at her. "But… who's going to go against us. If Angel isn't the Student Body President anymore, then will she still enforce the rules?"
Harry sat down, yawning. "Why not? Why the heck would something that simple matter to one of God's angels? I mean, it's Student Body President, for heaven's sake. They don't really do anything, most of the time. It shouldn't change anything."
He hesitated. "Well… actually, there is still the old vice president, the new acting president. He might show up to try and stop us."
"But… he's a NPC! We can't shoot him!"
"Oh… yeah, that's true."
"I don't mind the cold! I don't mind the burns! I promise you, I-will-ne-ver-fold"
There was a flurry of flying cloth. Hannah sprung back up as she reached the ground, daggers gleaming. "She's here. Angel."
Mike put a hand to his forehead and gazed out. Yes, she was here, making her way to the cafeteria with that deliberate pace. He frowned. But there was something different, something was off.
Harry lifted up his weapon, and began to aim. "We should attack now, before she activates distortion-"
"No, wait," Mike interrupted. Hannah and Harry glanced at him, curious. Angel was now only yards away. However, Mike didn't think she'd seen them, as her head was slumped, face on the ground.
"Something's wrong, different. Angel doesn't look like she's here to fight. Here, get down!"
Before Harry could protest, Mike had grappled him around the waist, and the two of them had tumbled into the bushes on the side of the path. Hannah looked after her companions, torn, and then hopped in after them.
"Ow- hey, these are roses! Mike, are you crazy, we can't just let Angel pass-"
"Shh," Mike hissed, interrupting Harry. They watched, breathless, as Angel passed by their position. But she was silent; no shimmering blade appeared at her wrist. She just continued to walk on, gaze still on the cold stone ground. As she passed, Mike signaled up at the men on the roof, and so Angel entered the glowing cafeteria.
On the make-shift stage, Girls Dead Monster moved in tune with their own beat. The rhythm they generated spun and weaved all around the room, encompassing all in its warm coil.
Julie's eyes were aglow in wonder. The audience roared, and she could feel the energy, driving her, playing through her.
"You may grumble, you may sigh. But I'll take on your thousand enemies… with joy in my eye."
Winnie's eyes played out over the stands, taking it all in. Everything seemed to be going precisely according to-"
She almost dropped her binoculars as she noticed the familiar, short, fair-haired girl working her way through the crowd.
"GUYS! What are you doing, sleeping? She's in the cafeteria!" Winnie howled into her intercom. Across the cafeteria, Bridget flinched as the howl resounded millimeters from her ear. "You've ruined the operation! I'm going to go up there and, and…" Winnie trailed off gradually. She put the radio down.
Angel hadn't activated any of her guardskills. She hadn't even activated distortion, otherwise the bag of chips some excited concert goer had chucked wouldn't have smacked her in the head. Winnie watched Angel walk right past one of the fan teams, her solders hiding behind each other in fright.
What… what was going on? Angel wasn't making any effort to stop the concert, or their operation! Winnie watched her enemy reach the coupon table. The coupon table was where the cafeteria ladies put out coupons for free food, the kind no one ordered and they needed to get rid of. Winnie knew from surveillance that Angel always spent all of her lunch money on catering parties for various clubs, and had always wondered how she ate. Until now, she had just supposed that angels didn't eat, and survived off of rainbows and goodwill, or something like that. She peered through her binoculars to see Angel choose a coupon.
Chupacabra Curry? That was the most horrible, tongue-burning thing on the menu! What, had she gone insane?
Winnie leaned back, and bit her lip. Trying to hold her balance in the swaying eddies of rhythm all around her, she tried to think. Her radio buzzed.
"Fred," came Bridget's cool tone. "The concert's excitement has reached its peak. It's time."
Winnie clenched her fists. "All right, fine. Start!"
In rumbling unison, the giant fans shook to life. As the crowd roared, and the instruments danced, rising winds started to sweep through the room. Winnie watched a loose tempest of discarded wrappers, papers, and lunch money start to sweep into the air, glittering in the flashing concert lights.
And, she saw Angel's coupon ripped from her hands. She saw Angel reach up after it, only to see the slip of paper fly away from her, spinning up to the ceiling. Angel lowered her arm, and just like that, was lost in the jostling crowd.
Outside, the Battlefront was cheering in excitement as a snow of lunch money fell over them. Mike was the last to climb his way out of the prickled roses. He reached up to catch the last flurry of debris, and looked down at his catch, before they hurriedly fled from the scene.
"Coupon to be redeemed before Friday, November 1, for one order of Chupacabra Curry."
A half hour later, they were laughing in the kitchen, eagerly retelling their easy success over Angel.
"What a cinch!" Mike heard someone say as he stood in line for food. "If Angel's that wimpy every time, we'll have the run of this place!"
Harry heaved a massive exclamation as Mike retrieved his order, gasping in shock from his seat beside him. "Mike, are you insane? What convinced you to buy that? It's known that the science teachers use that curry to purify test-tubes, it's so hot!"
Mike looked down at the saucy rice-and chicken mesh. "Hey, it's what I ended up with, all right? Someone was using a coupon, apparently." He grimaced. Well, he was hungry… With Harry's incredulous eyes on him, he brought a shaking forkful to his mouth, and swallowed.
His eyes scrunched tight as the flavor hit him, he chewed frantically, and swallowed furiously. He sat still for several moments, panting. Then he paused. "Hey, wait a second… This is actually really good. Spicy, yeah, but… whoa, this actually tastes amazing."
Harry gazed at him, in awe. "Really? Wait, let me try some!" He bravely flicked a serving into his mouth.
"YEAAAAAHHHH!" Harry gagged, tears running down his face, then chewed, swallowed. "Oh my sweat mercy, that burned… but… but, the aftertaste, it's so satisfying…"
"That was Angel's coupon," Winnie spoke suddenly, not touching her meal. "I saw her pick it up."
Mike's laughter at Harry's antics quickly subsided. "Angel's ticket? You mean, she was going to eat this?" Mike put his fork down. She had wanted to treat herself to some curry… and he'd taken that from her, taken that small bit of happiness.
Winnie put down her fork, as she stared straight ahead.
What was going on? Why had the loss of her position resulted in a change in Angel's actions? Surely, a divine being wouldn't care about something like a school position. It appeared there was much she still had to learn about her enemy.
Across from her, Mike had started to talk again. "Hey, I was wondering, after what happened tonight… Do you think, Angel might want to be with us on the Battlefront?"
At least three people spit out their drink.
"Have you gone batty?" Emmanuel cried from the table behind him. "Do you know how many of us she's killed over the years? Well, we've got her a few times as well and everyone's fine… BUT STILL! She might have been harmless today, Mike, but believe me, your enemies never change. We can't trust that demon!"
Emmanuel's speech got a rousing cheer. Mike sunk into his chair. Well, that had been a stupid suggestion, apparently.
He knew angels were different from humans, but still. He thought of Angel, going to eat her Chupacabra Curry, all by herself. She didn't really have any friends at the school, she was alone. The image of her, all by herself, stuck in his mind, he couldn't shake it out, he-"
The cafeteria lights plunged off with a click. Dark uniforms flooded through the kitchen doors as Battlefront members tried to stand, trapped at their seats.
Mike struggled to his feet, and felt a restraining hand grab his arm. Glancing to his side in shock, he saw the firm face of an NPC glare at him.
Winnie whirled around, face afire as she saw her team surrounded. "What the hell is going on? You idiots can't just-'
"On the contrary, Winifred Washington," a snide voice called from the back of the room.
Albert strode into the center of the area, a satisfied smirk adorning his pale face, and he crossed his well-dressed arms to survey his captives. "As the new Student Body President, I can do whatever I see fit. Your stunt in the cafeteria will not go unpunished."
The politician's black eyes swept over them. "You will find this administration a tad… different, then the one you are used to. Everything you know about the Elihu the Young Acadamy, all is about to change."
A/N End of Mission Five. The support is pretty amazing, guys, and pretty unexpected. Thanks for the input. I have an idea for the next chapter, a way to make it a bit different from the first time around. Hope you like it.